


LC of GEA.doc (abandoned WiP)

by kayliemalinza



Series: Abandoned WiPs [3]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Domestic, Fluff, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2008-07-13
Updated: 2008-08-03
Packaged: 2017-10-27 07:11:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/293067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayliemalinza/pseuds/kayliemalinza
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ianto and Gwen meet up with Jack in London for some Torchwood business.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ABANDONED WIP

A year after Jack returned to Torchwood, two humans were discovered—rather suddenly and explosively— _inside_ a construction crane in Russia. UNIT summoned Jack to Moscow, and two days later Ianto was attacked in the tourist office. The attack was swift, fierce, and Ianto was too stunned to protect himself. In the entire history of Torchwood, no agent had ever suffered such an attack.

A nine-year-old girl threw a pound coin at his head.

"The brochure she took costs a pound and twenty pence," Ianto grumbled later, sitting on the autopsy table as directed by a clucking Gwen. "She short-changed me."

"A thief as well as a violent offender, oh dear," said Gwen. She dabbed a bit of medicinal cream on the small red splotch above his left eyebrow. "Shall we crib her image from the CCTV and send it down to the station? Andy will be glad to head the task force; he's been asking me to send Torchwood leads his way." Her eyes were round and overly sincere, reflecting soft circles from the overhead surgical lamp.

Ianto scowled, forgetting for the moment how scowling made him look like a little boy.

"Now tell me," said Gwen, capping the cream tube with a professional _snap_. "What was the exact nature of the disagreement?"

Ianto smoothed out his tie. The cream tingled and he wanted desperately to scratch it. "I believe she took issue with the tourist office being closed tomorrow," he said. "Her exact words were, 'I shall have to buy this today, then, since you lot are such lazy buggers what can't talk.'" Ianto imitated the girl's London accent, but elected not to adopt a pre-adolescent falsetto. "The last was a reprisal of an earlier complaint that the street names are too difficult to pronounce," he added dryly.

Gwen smiled despite herself, and patted Ianto on the arm. "Oh, Ianto," she said. "She's just a little girl on holiday."

"I don't think she's had time to visit anyplace else," Ianto said, sliding off the table. "She's been into the tourist office four times a day, and the scrotty old man hardly helps matters."

"That's her grand-dad," Gwen said reprovingly, "and he's a sweet old man." She grinned shyly. "He said I should be in moving pictures."

Ianto rolled his eyes as he took the tube of cream from Gwen and set it back in the first aid kit. "Did he? Or did he mutter something vaguely foreign that you interpreted as such?"

"Cheeky!" cried Gwen. "He speaks a fair bit of English, thank you. I've had several lovely conversations with him while out on my lunch break."

"A pity those conversations didn't cover the proper disciplining of violent children," Ianto muttered. "Perhaps we should slip him information for a juvenile anger management program." He deposited the first aid kit on its proper shelf with a satisfactory _clang_.

Gwen crossed her arms. "If you're going to be such a sourpuss, I'm going home early," she said.

Ianto gave her a tiny smile. "My apologies," he said. "It must be the concussion talking."

"Well," said Gwen. "I suppose I should be more understanding." She tossed her hair and hooked her arm through Ianto's, thin red sleeve pressed against dark grey. "Back to important Torchwood business, is it?"

"We _are_ dedicated guardians of the city," Ianto said.

Gwen bit her lower lip. "Antonio Banderas is potentially connected to the Rift, don't you think?" she said.

"Most definitely," said Ianto. "Shall we begin our research with _Desperado_ , or—" He and Gwen stared at his front jacket pocket in consternation as it started to ring. Ianto pulled out his cell phone with a sigh. "Hullo," he said.

"Ianto!" Jack's voice burst through the earpiece. "The prisoners are being moved to London earlier than we planned. Can you and Gwen catch the next train up?"

Gwen heard him and assaulted Ianto with a perfect cocktail of 'annoyed' and 'woebegone.' Ianto's replying aperitif was 'resignation.' "Of course," he said. "I'll go down to purchase the tickets immediately."

Jack hung up without further ado.

Gwen sighed and pulled away from Ianto. "I'd better go home and pack," she said. "And tell Rhys that we won't be going out for dinner tonight." She overemphasized the last 't' with a rueful twist to her lips. Ianto gave her a half-shrug in commiseration, and she walked away with her hands stuck in her back pockets. He flipped open his phone and dialed.

"Hullo? Yes, can you tell me the departure time of the next train to London?"


	2. Chapter 2

Jack met them at the station, all teeth and eyebrows as he grabbed Gwen's luggage (not a euphemism) and handed Ianto a briefing folder (possibly a euphemism.) "I'm really glad you guys are here," he said, nearly whacking both of them with Gwen's blue wheeled suitcase as he flung his arms around them both. "This is gonna be a lot of fun. Both the prisoners are still unconscious, but Dr Matthias from UNIT has been doing a lot of tests, and man. If you think the injuries are exciting enough, wait until you hear what he has to say about their bloodwork. To say that we're dealing with humans from the future would be simplifying the issue." Jack herded them toward the great glass doors at the end of the station, where Ianto saw a green Jeep winking in the sunlight. "I'll let the good doctor explain, he knows all the big words. And his hands are very expressive." He winked.

"The train up was fine, thank you," said Gwen, smiling sweetly.

Jack's grin slipped a bit as he studied her face, then glanced at Ianto.

Ianto curled the corner of his lip assuringly. "There was a slight problem with our fellow passengers," he said.

"All I'm saying is," Gwen countered stroppishly, "children should keep better control of their parents."

Jack blinked. "Don't you mean—"

"No," said Ianto. "She said exactly what she meant." He added dryly, "It didn't come to violence, thankfully."

"What Ianto means," Gwen cut in smoothly, "Is that he has been injured, and you're a poor boss, not to mention partner, not to have noticed."

Ianto glanced somewhat skittishly at the other travelers weaving past them. "It's hardly—"

"You got hurt?" Jack asked, stopping in the middle of the terminal with Gwen's suitcase swinging limply at his side. He pulled Ianto to a stop with him, poking at various limbs.

"No, no," said Gwen, "On the face. Just above the left eyebrow, see?"

Ianto rolled his eyes as Jack leaned in close.

"Should I kiss it better?" Jack asked.

"Not necessary," Ianto mumbled, and nimbly side-stepped Jack and his incoming lips. He started off for the glass doors again. He reckoned that the Jeep was idling, considering the way its bonnet shivered.

"I've already taken care of that," said Gwen. "In Ianto's hour of need, it was I who came to his comfort and aid. I'd like you to remember that, Jack."

Jack laughed and tugged at Gwen's hair as they followed Ianto. "If I buy you an ice cream, can we both forget it?"

Gwen considered that. "Well," she said. "If it's mint chocolate chip."


	3. Chapter 3

Gwen lolled on the chair in the corner of the hotel room, eating her ice cream. There had been some discussion as to whether or not she was lounging instead, but careful analysis bore out that she was, indeed, lolling. Ianto remarked that the appropriate word to describe the action of her cone was "dripping" and then smoothly asked a question about the case.

Ianto spread the papers from the briefing file over the pilling maroon blanket. "Tell me about the injuries," he said, sifting out several large glossy photos.

Jack leaned around him—they had both settled on the bed, up near the pillows—and studied the photos in question. "Most of injuries are what you'd expect after materializing inside a construction crane. Crushed bones, skin abrasions, electrical burns...."

"Are these pictures I want to see?" Gwen asked.

"Not while you're eating," answered Jack.

Gwen bit her lip. "I'll just stay over here then," she mumbled, and licked some ice cream off her thumb.

"Do we know for sure that they materialized?" Ianto asked. He shuffled around the papers, searching for the preliminary report.

"There's no other way they could've gotten there," Jack said. "Also—" he nudged Ianto's hand out of the way to pick up another photo. "They were both wearing these."

Ianto took the photo and tilted it to escape the window glare. The photo showed two metal bands, featureless except for rectangles which could be outlines of panels, and a bizarre, circular etching. From the ruler scale included in the photo, the bands were big enough to fit easily around a person's wrist, maybe their arm.

"Wearing what?" Gwen asked, sitting up. Jack took the photo and reached out to hand it to Gwen. "Oh," she said, turning the image sideways. "They're sort of... bracelet things."

Jack nodded. "Some of the monitoring equipment at the construction site recorded anomalous spikes in electromagnetic activity, radio waves, the typical interference that primitive technology doesn't know what it's looking at but gets smacked around by it anyway."

 _Primitive bit of technology. You should be ashamed_ , thought Ianto.


End file.
